I often hear people talk about how they wished they had been born in a different time period. We have movies like “Back 
to the Future” and the “Time Traveler’s Wife” and others where people can be transported to different eras. I have given that thought myself before and decided the “olden days” were good when things were simple but not so simple that there were no modern conveniences.
I have also thought about how I was born and raised in the United States. I have been to third world countries and have seen firsthand how hard it is for some people just to survive from day to day. They do not have access to clean water, food, shelter, education or jobs. We recently finished a book in school on one of the Lost boys from Sudan that came to the U.S. and it got me thinking again about how I take for granted the fact that I was born to parents in this country.
It gets my brain on overload when I start to wonder, “Why me?” Why was I chosen to be born where I was and when I was? Many have even come before me that were fortunate enough to be born here in the U.S. but it was during a time when women didn’t have many rights or you had “washing day” where you had to spend an entire day washing your family’s clothes by hand and hang them out to dry (after you made your own laundry soap). Ugh! I am counting my blessings!
Did you ever really think about why you were born when you were and where you were? I’ve read this before but today it popped out at me. “From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He (God) decided exactly WHEN they should live. And he decided exactly WHERE they should live.” Acts 17:26 NIRV And do you know WHY He made us? So that we could search for God and find Him (v.27). Every human being is placed on earth with the purpose of seeking God. You were specifically planned down to where and when you would be born!
I no longer wish that I had been born at another time or even in another place (other than NJ). I was thinking about the cancer diagnosis I received last year. If I had been born years earlier, my cancer probably would not have been diagnosed in the early stages. The aggressive cancer I had would have advanced quickly, and most likely it would have been too late for any treatment at all. Any treatment that I received would not have been as effective as what I was able to get either. If I lived elsewhere I might not have had access to the healthcare I was able to receive. I literally pass by the hospital/doctors I use on my route to work each day so treatments were very convenient as well. Right now I am happy to do just what I was put here for…seeking God.
a pilgrims ponderings 